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pastimes
Selected items from the pages of ASM International's monthly magazine: Metal Progress was published
from 1930 to 1986, after which Advanced Materials & Processes came into being.
Marvelous magnesium
— From a special 25th anniversary issue of Metal Progress,
March 1940, looking at the magnesium industry in 1915
and 1940
As it was in 1915…The year 1915 has witnessed the
birth of our American magnesium industry. Prior to this date,
domestic requirements were met by importations from
Germany, but demands were small as the metal cost about
$1.65 per lb and known uses were very few. The War has
suddenly changed the picture. Importations have ceased,
while Government requirements for military purposes are
rapidly increasing. This impetus has been sufficient to cause
many to investigate the problem of commercial manufacture
Metallic magnesium. Courtesy of Jurii/Wikimedia Commons.
with the result that by the close of 1915 there are five
American producers of magnesium. The total output for the
year, however, is less than 100,000 lb, valued at a little more than $5 per lb.
As it is in 1940…The last quarter of a century spans a new industry from the date of its birth to an important
position in American life. The significant features of this development have been the steadiness of growth, independent
of depression cycles, and the increasing diversification of other industries now dependent on magnesium.
Magnesium alloys have been developed with properties to fit them to a variety of uses, available in all the forms required
of an engineering metal, such as sand castings, die castings, structural and special shapes, bars,
rods, tubing, and sheet. Heat treating, forging, forming, welding, and related fabrication and
assembly operations are standard commercial practices. Finishing operations have been
perfected including chemical finishes, anodizing, coloring, and painting. In short,
magnesium alloys have become a member of our family of engineering metals.
Concurrent with this growth in volume has been the decrease in metal cost.
Magnesium is now sold for about one twentieth its 1915 price.
—By John A. Gann, metallurgist, The Dow Chemical Co.
Doing without CFCs
— From the "Letters" department, AM&P, February 1993
What is ASM International's stand on the ozone hole, that region of the
stratosphere located above the South Pole that is deficient in the ozone believed to
be responsible for protecting Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation? The size
of the ozone hole is thought to be increasing and will, in time, permit populated lands
to experience accelerated health and environmental harm.
From the large number of newspaper stories and magazine articles published about
the ozone hole, it is reasonable to assume that many ASM members already know that
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Halons, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform are being
Total ozone over the
blamed for the ozone erosion. However, they may not be aware of the impact that the pending
Antarctic pole as of
loss of these chemicals in the workplace could have on their jobs and the practice of materials
Sept. 27, 2013. Purples and
engineering.
blues represent areas with
Of immediate concern to companies using even small amounts of CFCs is the EPA's new
the least ozone, while
amendment to the Clean Air Act of 1990. This so-called "Label Law" mandates warning labels
yellows and reds show
areas with more ozone.
on all products made in the U.S. that use in their manufacture or contain ozone-depleting
Courtesy of NASA.
substances (ODSs). The act becomes effective in May. The underlying reason for this law and
other punitive EPA measures is to accelerate the disuse of ODSs. However, no financial incentives have been provided
to industry to find alternatives. The importance the government has assigned to this politically charged issue was
accentuated when (former) President Bush decreed that production of all Class I ODSs will cease by the end of 1995.
The real question, then, is not where ASM stands on the ozone hole, but rather, "What is the impact of the imminent
demise of ODSs on engineering materials?" I would like to see articles in AM&P that provide information on solutions to
the problems created by prohibiting the use of CFCs, Halons, and other ODSs in materials processing.
—William J. (Jim) Ricket, Woven Electronics Corp., Mauldin, S.C.
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES • NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2013
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